


Lost

by dab



Series: Fíli/Kíli drabbles and prompt fills [3]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-10-29 22:48:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20804243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dab/pseuds/dab
Summary: Fíli and Kíli take their first trip together, but manage to get lost. Will they ever find the way?





	Lost

**Author's Note:**

> It's my birthday today and I managed to finish an anonymous prompt I got on tumblr to celebrate :)  
Thank you for the prompt, anonymous person. I hope you enjoy it!

“We should have been there by now.” Kíli complained. He had taken off his shoes and was rubbing his feet to alleviate some of the pain. They had been walking all day and their large bags full of daggers and other small iron and steel items were getting really heavy.

“Just make the fire, I’m starving.” Fíli said slowly, distracted by the two maps and the compass laid out in the grass before him. He had thrown his bags onto the grass next to him and was hunched over the maps, the piece of paper with Thorin’s instructions in hand.

Kíli grumbled but made a fire and started to heat up some of the food their mother had packed for them that morning.

“It just doesn’t make any sense.” Fíli muttered, his eyes darting between the maps and the written instruction. “We never encountered a point where we could make a left turn.” He pointed at the map and beckoned Kíli to come and look.

Kíli sighed but looked anyway. It took him a few minutes to figure out what he was looking at, but Fíli was patient and used the time to take off his own boots. It was getting dark and he really did not want to walk any more today.

“What about this intersection?” Kíli suggested after some time. He had looked over Thorin’s instruction twice and had turned the left map 45 degrees. “We could have turned left there.”

“No that’s way too early.” Fíli said after inspecting the map again. “Thorin said it was half a day’s walk before we would even get to the point where we would need to turn left. That intersection is only an hour from home.”

“But look at this. The next line of the note says we should encounter a stable and an inn and look,” Kíli pointed to the left of the intersection he’d found on the map, “there is a stable and an inn on that road.”

“Are you serious? Mahal Kíli, that means we’ve walked north instead of west for an entire day!”

“I told you we should have asked for directions.” Kíli said defensively.

“When did you say that? Before or after you suggested to find a nice spot for some ‘alone time’.”

“It’s not my fault you are such a buzz kill. And you could have thought to ask somebody. After all, your mouth was completely un-occupied.”

“Who should I have asked then?! We haven’t seen anybody since this morning.” Fíli snapped back, ignoring Kíli’s suggestive remark.

“Which should have been our first clue, since we are supposed to be on a busy trading route!”

“And you didn’t say anything about that for the entirety of the day, because…?” Fíli accused.

“I was too busy staring at your ass!”

Fíli couldn’t help but laugh at that. Kíli’s answering grin made his heart flutter. He was frustrated with their lack of progress but just couldn’t stay mad at his brother. He made peace by suggesting to make camp for the night and continue tomorrow, which was met with an enthusiastic ‘yes’ and some very creative ideas on how to spend their time until morning. They would figure the maps out tomorrow.

\--

The next morning dawned with both of them in a good mood. Fíli was hopeful when he opened the two maps to plan out their route after breakfast. But his smile quickly turned into a frown when he got out Thorin’s instructions again. Kíli returned to their small camp a few minutes later and found his brother tracing a road with his finger with a scowl on his face, Thorin’s instruction crumpled next to him.

“Still confused?” Kíli asked, taking a seat next to him in the grass.

“Shut up. I don’t think these maps are correct.”

“That’s something I’ve heard uncle say multiple times.” Kíli said, trying to hold back his laughter.

“You do it then!” Fíli barked, shoving a map at Kíli.

Kíli was unfazed by Fíli’s rare show of temper and buckled down to find out what was going on. Fíli had packed away their entire camp and gotten water to extinguish their fire when Kíli finally let out a triumphant sound.

“You got it?” Fíli asked, approaching Kíli and the maps again.

“Yeah, it’s not as bad as we thought.” Kíli explained. “The road we were supposed to take bends north so if we just go to the west now, we should approach the town from the east instead of the south. We should be there by midday.”

Fíli had a blank stare during Kíli’s explanation. “You just said north, south, west and east in one sentence. How will we get anywhere if we go in all directions.”

Kíli looked momentarily confused, but shrugged and said to trust him. And Fíli did.

They set out again shortly after, this time travelling west. Kíli was leading them, compass in hand, and it was now Fíli who had the freedom to flirt shamelessly the whole way.

At first, Kíli responded in kind, happily partaking in their game of coming up with a more lewd statement than the other could. But as the morning turned into afternoon, Kíli was frowning more than he was smiling.

“Are you okay?” Fíli asked a few times.

“Just let me focus.” Kíli said every time. And each time, he turned the map another 45 degrees.

It was nearing sunset when he finally gave up.

“This map is meaningless!” Kíli shouted as he threw his bags onto the floor.

“I told you.” Fíli agreed, lowering his own luggage more slowly.

“We’re completely lost. I have no idea where we are and I know you don’t either.” Kíli continued ranting.

“We’re lucky mother packed us so much food.” Fíli said, trying to lift his brother’s mood.

“She must have suspected we’d get lost.” Kíli scowled. He crossed his arms and sat with his back against a tree.

“Probably. You want some?” Fíli offered Kíli some cheese and nuts to tie him over until dinner was ready. They ate mostly in silence. Kíli’s bad moods were legendary and Fíli knew exactly when to talk and when to shut up.

“Want to camp out another night?” Fíli finally suggested. Kíli lit his pipe, agreeing only after Fíli promised to ask for directions tomorrow. 

\--

Fíli woke up to the scent of cooked sausages. He smiled. Kíli probably wanted to make up for his mood yesterday and was cooking breakfast. He tightened his hold on his brother and fully intended to sleep for a little while longer.

… His brother?

Fíli opened his eyes and indeed found Kíli next to him, still fast asleep. He sat up immediately, grabbed a dagger, and turned to the fire.

It was Dwalin, happily whistling a tune while poking at the meat over the fire.

“You’re finally awake.” The older warrior stated.

“Wh-when did you get here? How did you find us?” Fíli questioned. They did not even know where they were themselves.

“I found you lads last night.” Dwalin answered, nodding at his pony grazing nearby.

“Dwalin?” Kíli exclaimed in shock, waking up now his brother’s warmth had disappeared.

Dwalin rolled his eyes at the brothers’ surprise and offered them breakfast. They happily accepted.

“How did you find us?” Kíli asked after taking his first bite.

“Thorin was worried when you didn’t show up two days ago. I asked him what kind of instructions he’d given you. After he told me, I knew you’d never find us.”

“Thorin’s instructions were horrible.” Kíli agreed.

“You had two maps and a compass as well, it should’ve been easy. It’s only 25 miles.” Dwalin gave them a pointed look.

Fíli opened his mouth to disagree, but quickly realized Dwalin was right. Neither of them had managed to find their destination.

“It’s not your fault.” Dwalin sighed. “You inherited it from your uncle. I’ve witnessed Thorin’s questionable sense of direction and non-existent map reading skills for decades. I had planned to find you even before you failed to arrive.”

“We must be close though, right?” Kíli asked, his voice hopeful. He had led them this way after all.

“No.” Dwalin laughed. “I only managed to find you because I spotted your tracks by accident. We still have a full day’s walk ahead of us. Only the Line of Durin could make a one-day trip into a three-day hike.”

The brothers groaned. Another full day!

“But look at the bright side,” Dwalin said with a grin. “Royalty should always arrive fashionably late and you will never have to put any effort into that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
Fun question that's been running through my mind while I was writing this story: How many hours of map-reading and navigation lessons did it take for Fíli and Kíli to be able to arrive third at Bilbo's house?


End file.
